by Lori Foster
“I knew it.” Now visibly irate, Dean scooped a heaping pile of potato salad on her plate and set it down in front of her.
Eve eyed the mound of food—enough for two grown men—and shook her head. “You knew what?”
“That you’d take a woman’s perspective on this.”
“That might be because I’m a woman. But you realize I can say the reverse, that you’re taking a man’s perspective on it.”
“Which is?”
“You don’t like Roger, you don’t want your sister to marry him, so he has to be the villain in this scenario.”
Dean finished chewing a big bite of chicken, swallowed, took a drink, and then pointed his fork at her. “Actually I’m taking the logical perspective. People rarely do things without motives.”
“Everything that’s happened to you isn’t necessarily related.”
“I don’t believe in coincidence. Not three in a row.”
Eve stopped to regroup and rethink her strategy.
“I see the wheels turning,” Dean pointed out. “But I’ll warn you now that I’m not easy to manipulate.”
She waved that away. “Could we compromise?”
“In what way?”
“Let’s give it just a few days. If nothing else happens, you’ll tell Cam about your suspicions. You’ll trust her enough to also be logical and to know a good man from a bad one.” She smiled sweetly. “After all, she had you pegged from the get-go.”
To Eve’s way of thinking, Dean pondered her suggestion far too long. She was just about to throw her chicken bone at him when he conceded.
“All right. I’ve got someone checking into Roger’s background, and until I hear from him, I don’t want to jump the gun anyway.”
Eve sat back and gave him a blank stare. “I hope you’re joking.”
“Not even a little. But there’s another reason, too. I’d already decided that you know the girls better than I do.”
“Girls?” she teased, raising one brow as if affronted.
“Women. Sisters.” He shook his head. “Cam and Jacki. I’m getting to know them, but I feel like I’m missing a lot of the pieces. I figure between hanging out at the house to do the rest of the repairs and talking with you, I’ll have a better idea of how to handle them.”
“Handle them?”
Dean eyed her as he dug into a second piece of chicken. “You keep repeating things I say.”
“Only the stupid things.”
“Are you going to eat or not?”
She looked down at the small dent she’d made in the food he’d put on her plate. “I have eaten. I’m just not a glutton. There’s no way I can consume all this in one sitting.”
“Sorry about that. Finish up with what you do want, and I’ll show you some moves.”
“You sure you feel up to it?”
“Definitely.” Sensual promise glittered in his brown eyes. “Got any preferences?”
Without hesitation, Eve said, “I want to learn how to do an arm lock, rear naked choke, and the Kimura.”
That slow grin appeared again. “You have been watching fights, haven’t you?”
“And learning a lot. Once you’ve taught me a few things, I plan to give that brother of mine the surprise of his life.”
The phone rang while Dean was still laughing. As Eve excused herself to answer it, she thought how nice it was to see Dean like this, teasing and relaxed. His laughter made her smile from the inside out.
Her smile died as soon as she heard Cam’s upset voice.
After talking to her a few minutes, Eve offered to drive to her house. They had consoled each other many times, and no man, not even a well-meaning brother, would change that.
But Cam knew that Eve was with Dean, and she insisted that she only wanted to go to bed.
Eve returned to Dean with a frown.
“Anything wrong?”
Probably too many things to count. “You aren’t going to like it.”
“Let me hear it anyway.”
Rather than drag out the inevitable, Eve propped an elbow on the table and explained what she knew. “Roger asked Cam to marry him. Again. Cam refused. Again. This time Roger didn’t take it that well.”
Half out of his seat, Dean asked, “What did that bastard do?”
“Not what you’re thinking. He didn’t yell at Cam or harass her. He left. Just walked away.” And Eve couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him. “Cam said he looked broken-hearted.”
Dean snorted at that.
“A few hours later, she got a handwritten message from him.” Eve understood Dean’s reaction, because not that long ago, she had despised Roger, too. He always came across so pushy, so controlling—a total mismatch for Cam.
But through Cam, Eve was beginning to see Roger differently. If Cam loved him, and she did, then he couldn’t be all bad.
“The note said he was taking a few days off and would get in touch with her when he returned. Cam’s a little frantic, and feeling guilty for not explaining herself to him. She doesn’t know where he went, and he’s not answering her calls.”
Dean stood and went to the window to stare out at the darkness. “When was this?”
He looked so lost in thought, Eve came up to lean against him. “About an hour before someone shot at you.” He said nothing, his thoughts contained inwardly. Eve nudged him. “What are you thinking?”
With an ease of familiarity, Dean’s arm slipped around her shoulders, and she fit herself against his side. “That this sudden trip of his is a cover-up. That he must be planning something more.” He finally looked at her. “I just don’t know what. Or why. And until I do, I’m not going to rest easy.”
CHAPTER 20
WITH Roger gone missing, the next three days went by without incident. Still Dean couldn’t stop worrying, and he made a point of spending time with Cam and Jacki. They worked on the house together, shared lunch, and went swimming. In terms of strengthening their relationship, each day felt more like a year. In no time at all, he had memories of his sisters, some newly built, and some shared from their animated stories of growing up with crazy Lorna as a guardian.
Cam told tall tales on Jacki, making her most recent antics sound harrowing and nerve-wracking—which was probably how Cam had viewed them, being she was the motherly sort.
For her part, Jacki mimicked Cam, giving the impression of a schoolmarm or a staid librarian.
Neither woman took offense; instead they laughed at each other. They were open and honest with their affection, confident in the love they shared. Dean both envied their closeness and relished it.
When he left himself unguarded, he felt a part of it.
If Cam hadn’t been so out of sorts, her usual good spirits gone missing, their time together would have been perfect. Not that Cam complained or pouted. Her pride would never allow her to do that.
But Dean noted that her smiles weren’t as bright, and they never reached her eyes. He wanted to talk to her about Roger and his suspicious absence, but damn it, he didn’t know how, not without upsetting her more.
Cam wasn’t the only sister causing him concern. The other worry had to do with Jacki—more specifically how Gregor watched her every move with a look that all men recognized. Dean hated to admit it, but he’d become a stereotypical big brother after all, and it hadn’t taken all that much to get him there. His resolve to remain unattached had been no match for his sisters’ warm, infectious charms.
All his life, Dean had prided himself on knowing his own mind. He accepted who he was and what he wanted. He faced his weaknesses and understood his strengths.
But around Jacki and Cam, he didn’t know his own mind. What he thought he wanted changed each day that he spent with them. His future, once neatly laid out, no longer appeared so appealing. He liked being with Jacki and Cam, but he hated the way it weakened him.
Spending his evenings with Eve helped. He’d taught her several moves, and sometimes when they grappled, she surprised him. N
ot that she came close to getting the better of him, not even for a split second, but she had good speed, and she remembered every little detail.
When Eve lost, as she always did, she got even by alternately teasing Dean for his growing preoccupation with his sisters and urging him to get even more involved. Her attitude made the upheaval less startling and more natural.
If Eve had her way, he’d move back to Harmony and live under the same roof with his sisters, discussing with them everything from their monthlies to bra sizes to the latest fashions.
Eve claimed that siblings should be able to share everything and to count on each other no matter what.
Because she had that relationship with her brother, Dean trusted her knowledge on the subject. But that didn’t make the reality of strengthening iron bonds any easier, when he’d always considered himself a free man.
“When will you fight again?” Sitting on the floor, her back against the wall, Cam watched as Dean repaired the ceiling in Lorna’s room. Her idle chitchat should have been a nuisance. With other women—women who were not of the sisterly sort—he’d had little interest in learning all about them. But with Cam he savored the easy camaraderie growing between them.
For the most part, Lorna had stayed out of Dean’s way. Today she kept close, constantly peering into her bedroom where he worked with an expectant scowl. She probably hoped to catch him pilfering through her jewelry or searching her closet. Dean knew she would leap at any opportunity to validate her low opinion of him.
At Cam’s question, Lorna lingered, watching him and waiting to see what he’d say.
“Simon wants to set something up. A special promotional program. I don’t know that much about it yet, but I think it’d be like a reality series or something.” Dean applied compound mud over the repaired holes in the ceiling. When it dried, he’d sand it smooth and then paint it to match the rest of the room.
“A reality series about you?”
He shrugged without taking his attention from his task. “Given what Simon told me, I’m guessing that cameras would follow me around while I trained for six weeks or so and then record the fight the night of the tournament.”
Lorna came further into the room, her expression and tone hopeful. “When is this fight? Does this mean you’ll be leaving us soon?”
“I haven’t decided yet.” Dean enjoyed disappointing her. “But even if I did go, I’d still come back. Didn’t the girls tell you?”
Cam cleared her throat. “When would Simon orchestrate this special program?”
Her attempt to change the subject fell flat. So Cam hadn’t mentioned his plans to Lorna? He wasn’t surprised, knowing how Lorna would react.
Lorna snapped to attention. “Young lady, have you kept something important from me?” Her tone and appearance seemed more panicked than angry. “What has this meddling interloper done now?”
Knowing he was the interloper, Dean stepped in to spare Cam from defending him or taking the heat of Lorna’s temper. “I’ve decided to move back here for good.”
The old gal’s jaw nearly hit the floor. “What?” she screeched in a shrill voice. And then with more strength, she shouted, “No!”
Actually Dean hadn’t made any such decision at all. It wasn’t like him to bluff, but he couldn’t resist the prime opportunity to gig Lorna.
Unfortunately Cam didn’t know it was a bluff, and she shot to her feet in excitement. “You’re serious!”
Dean would have regretted the impetuous statement, but Cam hadn’t sounded so elated since Roger split and that made his bluff an actuality.
He wasn’t about to disappoint Cam.
“Yeah.” Stepping down from the ladder, Dean smiled at her reaction. “Why not?”
She launched herself at him, crying, laughing. “Dean, that’s wonderful! I can’t believe Eve didn’t tell me.”
His arms went around her as if he’d been hugging her his whole life. “That might be because I haven’t told Eve yet.”
Finally pulling herself together, Lorna narrowed her eyes and curled her lip with hatred. “And just why would you tell that girl anything at all? She’s not family. She’s nobody. She—”
Still holding on to Dean, Cam said, “Because he’s in love with her.”
This time, Dean’s jaw dropped. Hearing Cam blurt out a deeply hidden thought like that sucked all the air from his lungs.
Cam just poked him in the side and continued grinning. “Oh, come on, Dean. Did you think I wouldn’t notice something that noticeable?”
The same arguments he’d given himself now spilled out to Cam. “I haven’t known her long enough to be in love with her. And you haven’t known me long enough to make that type of assessment on my feelings. Far as you know, I could behave the same with every woman.”
A dimple showed in her cheek. “Is that so?”
The automatic “yes” died on Dean’s tongue. From the onset, his determination to have Eve had helped blunt the transition back into his hometown, his past, and his sisters’ lives. He hadn’t just wanted Eve, he’d craved her.
That hadn’t changed. It didn’t matter if he was with her or away from her. The desire remained, always.
And why not? Eve was attractive, she wanted him, too, and she had character traits that would draw any man.
Frowning, Dean thought of Tiffany, the groupie in his room when he’d first awakened from his last fight. A beautiful woman. Cheerful. Sexy. More than willing. Tiffany even shared a love of his sport.
Yet he’d had no problem sending her on her way.
“No,” Dean admitted, “I don’t feel the same about all women.”
“You don’t look happy about it.”
“It’s unsettling, if you want the truth.”
“I don’t see why.” Cam’s smile gentled. “Love isn’t on a time line, you know. When it’s right, it’s right.”
Had Eve confided in her? The thought intrigued Dean. “You think it’s right between Eve and me?”
“Almost from the moment she met you, she’s been connecting with you in a way that I haven’t seen from her before. I think it’s great.”
In a tone that barely sounded human, Lorna whispered, “I don’t see what’s so great about it.”
Dean glanced at her, and even he was taken aback when he saw that she was nearly beside herself with unmasked hurt and fury.
Startled, Cam reached for her. “Aunt Lorna—”
“No!” Lorna jerked back and then pleaded with Cam. “Can’t you see that he’s taking over? It’s all calculated and devious. Already he ran off your fiancé. Doesn’t that matter to you?”
Cam eased away from him. “Dean had nothing to do with that, Aunt Lorna. Roger and I just need to work out a few things.”
“Right.” So much scorn dripped from her words. “And just how can you work out anything when Roger is gone?”
Cam lifted her chin. “He’ll be back.”
But she didn’t sound convinced of that.
“You should never have allowed Dean to drive him away. Roger would have saved us all financially.” Lorna’s rant became barely coherent. “He offered. He wanted to help. He’s rich and kind. An excellent catch. Yet over and over again you’ve turned him away. Then you beg this one to stay?”
The accusation in Lorna’s tone strengthened Cam’s position. “Of course I want Dean to stay. He’s my brother. He’s your nephew.”
Filled with loathing, Lorna’s gaze swung to Dean. “I wouldn’t claim him then, and I won’t have him now.”
Cam gasped, but Dean just folded his arms, wondering how far Lorna would go. Would she finally say why she despised him so much? What could a nine-year-old boy have done to earn such enmity?
“That’s enough,” Cam said.
But Lorna refused to retreat from her position. “You’re being an utter fool, girl. You can’t trust him. I know how Grover raised him in his image. Oh, Dean will play the benevolent big brother just to worm his way in, but then he’ll call in the d
ebts and kick us all out to the street corner. You wait and see.”
Cam looked at Dean, maybe hoping for him to defend himself. But Dean had no intention of doing so. He didn’t owe Lorna any explanations at all.
“You’re just like them,” Lorna claimed with glee, charging forward to close the space between them. She shook a measly fist in his face. “You were already too old for me to change, but the girls were still babies, untainted by them.”
Cam looked between Dean and her aunt with confusion. “Them who?”
From the beginning, Dean had wanted Lorna to admit to his parents’ failings, but now…he couldn’t bear the idea of upsetting Cam.
“Shut up, Lorna.”
“You wanted them to know,” she accused. “You threatened to tell them yourself.”
“I’ve changed my mind.”
“Well, that’s too bad for you!”
Cam raised her voice to demand attention. “Tell us what?”
Shaking all over, Lorna turned on her. “Your parents were immoral drunks.” Righteous in her fury, Lorna pressed her fist to her chest. “I tried to protect you from that. It’s why I sent him away.” One manicured finger stabbed toward Dean.
It didn’t matter what she said about him, Dean decided. Cam had faced enough realities in her life. If possible, he wanted to protect any illusions she had about their parents.
“That’s enough, Lorna. Drop it.”
As if she hadn’t even heard him, Lorna raged on. “That’s why I’ve been strict with you, why I never indulged you in any way. You have your parents’ blood running through your veins, so I couldn’t allow alcohol to ever—”
“Shut up, damn you.” Dean started forward, to do what he didn’t know.
Cam stopped him with a hand on his chest. “It’s all right, Dean. I already knew. Jacki, too.”
Dean stared at Cam in shock. She stood tall and proud, so strong yet sympathetic toward her aunt. His pride for her doubled.
Lorna went pale. “No.” She shook her head. “I got rid of everything. The letters, the photos—”
“Me,” Dean added.
“But not the memories.” Cam tipped her head with sympathy. “People talk, Aunt Lorna. It was inevitable that I’d hear things.”
